This book serves two practical purposes. The first is to encourage you to cycle - a good thing in itself. The second is to introduce you to the marvellous varieties of terrain and cycling routes that can be easily accessed from Dublin. To add spice to the mixture, Hugh Halpin includes snippets of history and folklore in his descriptions and points out fascinating sights worth seeing along the way.

The author has chosen forty routes which vary in terms of length and difficulty. The shortest route, at 20 km, would take less than an hour for a fit cyclist and would make an ideal family half-day, taken at leisure. The longest route, at 95 km, is a challenging day's cycling for a fully fit cyclist. Most of the routes are suitable for families and the averagely fit. All are circular, so that you can, if need be, drive to the start and return to your car. Terrain is varied, with the Wicklow mountains to the south and - at the northern extremity - the Cooley Peninsula, offering upland routes. These contrast nicely with the flatlands of Kildare and the low hills of Louth, Meath and Fingal.

This is the ideal guide for leisure cyclists in the greater Dublin region.